"Americans believe their country is a changed place since the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and most are resigned to a permanent threat from terrorism and do not see great progress in achieving many of the goals of the war against terrorism, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll." 9-02

"President George W. Bush's spokesman defended the use of images from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in political advertising after some relatives of victims said the campaign is exploiting the tragedy."

"The ads to promote Bush' re-election, which include video clip of firefighters carrying a flag-draped stretcher through the rubble of the World Trade Center, reinforce the shared grief of the nation, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said."

"The International Association of Firefighters, which is backing Kerry, also criticized the ads, releasing a statement that called use of the images 'disgraceful.' " 3-04

"The September 11, 2001 attacks were a series of coordinated attacks carried out against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. According to the official 9/11 Commission Report, nineteen men affiliated with al-Qaeda, a network of militant Islamist organizations, hijacked four American airliners. Two were crashed into the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City — one into each of the two tallest towers, about 17 minutes apart — shortly after which both towers collapsed. The third aircraft crashed into the U.S. Department of Defense headquarters, the Pentagon, in Arlington County, Virginia. The fourth plane crashed into a rural field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, 80 miles east of Pittsburgh, following passenger resistance." 09-08

"From Portugal to Iceland, reports of landings by private jets that have allegedly been used for the CIA's extraordinary renditions program have added fuel to already burning criticism of the treatment of prisoners in the U.S.-led war on terror."

" 'This is proof that we are cooperating too intimately with the CIA and the American government in the so-called war on terror,' Sweden's Left Party leader Lars Ohly told the AP. He was referring to reports by Swedish news agency TT that CIA planes had landed in 2002 and in September this year."

"The reports of possible CIA flights in at least six European countries since 2001 come at a time when the Council of Europe, a human rights watchdog, is investigating allegations that the U.S. intelligence agency set up secret prisons at Soviet-era compounds in Eastern Europe." 11-05

"Since planners began the process of deciding what will replace the World Trade Center buildings destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001, a tempest of criticism and indecision has swirled around the site. Nonetheless, after five years, construction has begun." 09-06

"Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, admitted to those attacks and numerous others during a U.S. military hearing on Saturday, according to an edited transcript of the hearing released by the Pentagon Wednesday." 03-07

"President Obama spoke at the Pentagon on Friday to those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001, telling them no words would heal their pain yet calling for a renewed resolve against the ones who attacked the country eight years ago." 09-09

"The nation’s top-down command structure was abysmally ill-prepared to respond to the surprise attacks of September 11, 2001 and, as the bungled response to the much-anticipated Hurricane Katrina underscored, remains a bureaucratic hindrance to the “on the ground” way in which crises are actually experienced and most effectively addressed. Equally important, misleading accounts by the administration and the military of key aspects of the air and ground response on 9/11 have set the country up to fail in response to future threats."

"The Ground Truth draws on Farmer’s experience with the 9/11 Commission as well as recently declassified tapes and transcripts to show a disturbing disconnect between what those in charge of the country’s security knew and what was actually happening on the ground and in the skies. Dean Farmer, one of the principal authors of the 9/11 Commission Report, includes critical evidence omitted in recent reports by the Departments of Defense and Transportation. The Commission, believing that civilian and military officials had not been completely forthright in their information to Congress, the media, and the Commission itself about significant aspects of 9/11, had requested the reports." 09-09

"After a last-minute compromise, Congress passed legislation Wednesday to provide up to $4.2 billion in new aid to survivors of the September 2001 terrorism attack on the World Trade Center and responders who became ill working in its ruins." 12-10

"It is nearly two years since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, and while most Americans still believe another attack in the U.S. is likely in the near future, this feeling is the lowest it has been since before the war with Iraq."

"But another worry is on the rise: most Americans are at least somewhat concerned that the anti-terrorism measures enacted by the Bush Administration will cost them some of their civil liberties." 9-03

Shawn Carkonen reviews the book Rise of the Vulcans by James Mann. Mann describes foreign policy through describing an alliance of key advisors for President Bush.

"This core group, consisting of Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Armitage, and Condoleezza Rice, has a long history together dating back 30 years in some cases. Dubbing themselves the Vulcans, they have largely determined the direction and focus of the Bush presidency. In this remarkably researched and fascinating book, Mann traces their careers and the development of their ideas in order to understand how and why American foreign policy got to where it is today."

"As Mann makes clear, there has never been perfect agreement between all parties, (the relationship between the close duo of Powell and Armitage on one side and Rumsfeld on the other, for instance, has been frosty) but they do share basic values. Whether they came from the armed services, academia, or government bureaucracy, the Vulcans all viewed the Pentagon as the principal institution from which American power should emanate. Their developing philosophy was cemented after the attacks of September 11, 2001 and is best reflected in the decision to invade Iraq. They believe that a powerful military is essential to American interests, that America is ultimately a force for good despite any negative consequences that may arise from American aggression, they are eternally optimistic about American power and dismiss any arguments about over-extension of resources, and they are skeptical about the need to consult allies or form broad global coalitions before acting." 3-04

"The panel investigating the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks found 'no credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States,' according to a staff report issued on Wednesday."

The report contradicts statements from the Bush administration that Saddam Hussein had ties to al Qaeda." 6-04

" 'Acts of terrorism like the September 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S. are a worst-case symptom of global insecurity brought about by the festering interplay among poverty, infectious disease, and environmental degradation—the true "axis of evil,' according to the Worldwatch Institute in its State of the World 2005 report."

"Global poverty can be cut in half by 2015 and eliminated by 2025 if the world’s richest countries including the United States, Japan and Germany more than double aid to the poorest countries, hundreds of development experts concluded in a report Monday."

"Instead of tackling the social and environmental issues embraced by the MDGs and the WSSD targets, governments' global funding priority in recent years has been the world's militaries, which receive the equivalent of nearly a trillion U.S. dollars annually, according to the Worldwatch report."

"By contrast, the MDGs could be achieved with additional funding of 50 billion dollars each year—money currently available in 'outdated, ineffective, or otherwise wasteful' military programs, according to the report."

" 'Do we understand that by doing things like reducing poverty, improving water sufficiency, making sure arable land is not so totally exhausted that food security becomes a huge issue, we also address the stability and security of the world's nations?" Renner said. 'In Washington [D.C.], that's a very hard sell.' " 1-05

"The agency that owns the space where the World Trade Center towers stood is freeing itself of the term 'freedom' to describe the signature skyscraper replacing the buildings destroyed on September 11, 2001."

"The Port Authority also has commitments for more than a million square feet of leased office space in One World Trade Center from the U.S. General Services Administration and the New York State Office of General Services. Leases for these two public agencies are being finalized. These commitments, coupled with the China Center lease, represent nearly 50 percent of the office space in the building." 03-09

"Isibel Edmonds, a 32-year-old Turkish-American, was hired as a translator by the FBI shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 because of her knowledge of Middle Eastern languages. She was fired less than a year later in March 2002 for reporting shoddy work and security breaches to her supervisors that could have prevented those attacks."